KAP considers going to CCC after staff cut

By Sonia Kohlbacher & Miriam Deprez

Katter's Australian Party is considering going to the Crime and Corruption Commission after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk stripped the party of extra parliamentary staff.

Ms Palaszczuk has withdrawn from a special taxpayer-funded staffing deal after the party refused to denounce KAP senator Fraser Anning's first speech to Federal Parliament.

KAP state leader Robbie Katter.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The premier demanded the party's condemnation after saying she was disgusted by Senator Anning's address, which used the Nazi-associated "final solution" phrase and called for a ban on Muslim immigration.

She announced on Sunday the party's refusal to do so meant she would no longer fund the five staffers granted during the last term of government, at a total cost of about $500,000, when Labor was a minority and needed parliamentary allies.

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But KAP Queensland leader Robbie Katter claims Ms Palaszczuk may have broken the law when she threatened to take away five staff if the party did not condemn Mr Anning's remarks.

"That has very serious criminal elements and implications to it," he told reporters on Monday.

"An officer in government cannot intimidate your or threaten you in any way, particularly with financial resources, and the Premier has explicitly done that."

Mr Katter said he is considering taking the matter to the Crime and Corruption Commission, among other options he would not disclose.

Responding to questions about whether she had tried to bully or intimidate the party Ms Palaszczuk said: "No, not at all."

"It's not in breach, it's totally at my discretion," she said.

Mr Katter concedes individuals may have taken offence at Senator Anning's speech but said they had been outnumbered by messages of support over the party's refusal to apologise.

He simply says the speech was quoted out of context.

The Liberal National Party has taken credit for the Premier's withdrawal from the arrangement, saying Ms Palaszczuk only took the step when she was shamed into it by the Opposition.

LNP MP Ann Leahy initially raised the issue in State Parliament, asking the Premier if she would walk away from the staffing deal in light of Senator Anning's comments.

Queensland Council of Civil Liberties vice-president Terry O'Gorman says while Senator Anning's speech was "appalling", the government's action is contrary to one of the pillars of the Fitzgerald report.

He says stripping KAP of their staff allocation is reminiscent of the Bjelke-Petersen government's stifling of their Labor opposition.